


Hope and Darkness

by Inanis_Spera



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-15
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 08:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inanis_Spera/pseuds/Inanis_Spera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even when the light withers forever and sanity is a distant memory, there is always hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Once More, For the Last Time

Homura woke up in her hospital bed, just like so many countless times before. She sat up, in no hurry. Summoned her shield. The first time in an eternity that she was unsure. Not wanting to face this. Anything but this. A hesitant reach inside and she pulled.

Tink, tink

She had succeeded.

And failed utterly.

* * *

_It will be okay Homura, I'll fix everything!_

* * *

Madoka ran through the twisted dream-scape. Checkered doors that went backwards. Patterned floors only half there. Spiral hallways that ran up-side down. The world changed but nothing truly moved. She could hear the cries for salvation and could do nothing. Madoka pushed open a wall marked 'go back' and the universe broke in. A thing. It looked like a gear with a doll pinned to it. A clock gear larger than a building. A doll silently crying, hurting, causing other to feel her pain. A girl in purple and black flew against the creature in the distance. She would fail. A nightmare of meaningless colors, noises twirled in the morning sky. Madoka did not watch alone.

Another girl, she knew it was herself, watched the two combatants not ten meters from where she should. A victory and loss already decided. She wore a green, filled and ruffled dress with black trim. It looked like something an anime character would wear. The other Madoka had known of her coming and turned to face herself. Silence reigned. She couldn't see anything in her doppelgangers face, but somehow the agony was clear. Held in her right hand was a wire-frame sphere with a thin spike coming from the bottom. The other whispered something too quiet to hear.

And Madoka woke up.

She was not sweating but felt like she had. The sensation of a painful decision that she would see through to the black end slept in her heart. She was shaking. The dream would not leave her. She got out of bed. She felt strong and weak. Expecting to hurt for some reason. Nothing was unusual. The sun shone in it's cheerful way. Nothing would ever be wrong. The glass walls seperated the light into a prism of magnificent colors. The dream was a dream she could ignore it and go on with perfect life. Nothing would ever change.

Madoka's day went by like any other. Waking mom up. Getting ready for school. Her dream lurked at the edges of her mind. It didn't feel like a dream. It would have faded by now. If anything the details were clearer. The patterns on the dress. Like a current in the ocean. The pain in the others eyes. The fight behind her back. It was not like a premonition, but a statement. Something beyond horrible and chosen had happened and now there was only the living with the decision.

Sayaka and Hitomi were just ahead. Madoka tried to push the dream aside. She didn't want her friends to be worried. As best she could, she smiled for them.

* * *

School went it's normal boring path. Poor Ms. Satome still had no luck with men. The last one complained of undercooked rice. One day she would find someone that appreciated her for being herself. A small break in routine roused Madoka from the same-old doldrums.

"Class we have a transfer student today. Her name is Homura Akemi." The transfer student walked in the class. Purple hair flowing behind her as she walked, she wore the standard uniform of the class with black stockings. Madoka felt like she should know Homura. A cloud of weary apathy hung over her. She stood as a testament of strength and beauty that had been taken outside and beaten with a golf club.

"She looks terrible", Sayaka whispered to Madoka.

Homura said her name and wrote it on the whiteboard. While she looked over the class her eyes fled from Madoka again and again. For her the pain was too raw and near. She took her seat. Whenever she was called to the front to solve a problem she obliterated with the same non-concern she gave everything else. She was noticed by all and did nothing to notice them. Gym fared the same. For all of Homura's fragility the school records were no match for her. Even the crowd of girls and boys that surrounded her didn't rouse her attention. She ignored everyone. It was only after gym that she spoke to Madoka.

"I'm not feeling well", Homura was noticeably paler than when she first walked in, "you are the health officer right? Could you please take me to the nurses office?"

"Of course!" Madoka chirped, happy to be of help. The pale girl nodded and walked along beside Madoka. The new girl looked like she needed a friend, and a shoulder to lean on. Madoka chatted with the non-responsive girl. Not caring if Homura was not answering back. She was new and needed a friend, that was all. Homura looked shy. She'd feel better once she got used to the school.

Madoka saw her reflection in the glass beside herself. The whole school was visible to anyone looking around. The glass reflected everything. A class across the building, people walking just outside. Sometimes at certain times of the year the sunlight would bounce through the windows just so that everyone would be color-shifted. For many it meant wearing a mask at all times to show people want they wanted to see. To hide their true selves. Madoka never wore a mask. She would always be herself.

She'd seen the small pains that could make people do things they'd later apologize for. The little triumphs and defeats that changed outlooks and behaviors. No-one was really bad in her mind. Just that bad things happened to them.

Homura walked like she knew where she was going. A feat she managed with her eyes closed and in obvious pain. "Hey, are you okay?" Madoka put her arm on the miserable girl's shoulder. Homura might not be used to someone who was friendly to her. Madoka didn't expect Homura to snap around and with barely an inch between them whisper:

"If someone gives you something too good to be true, it is." Homura refused to say anything more. Nothing Madoka tried would get the pale girl to open up.

* * *

After school at lunch, Madoka and her friends the new girl, Homura, was the center of the discussion.

"She needs some sleep." Sayaka declared. "She looks awful." The tom-boy normally liked to joke and be silly, but pain was off limits.

"She acts really sad. Like no-one talks to her." Madoka said. Sayaka scoffed. More than a few tried and got nowhere.

"Was she supposed to be released this soon? She looks very ill." Hitomi demurely asked. Madoka shrugged. Hitomi was a complete opposite to Sayaka. Gentle and empathic. Yet, they were best friends.

"She did great in gym. I think she just needs a friend."

"Uh oh, Madoka likes the sick ones! To bad! You're mai waifu!" Sayaka declared, hugging Madoka and pulling her close.

"Sayaka."

"Oh fine I'll invite her over for a burger tomorrow", she grumbled and went back to eating. Until she looked at her watch.

"Ah! I gotta get that CD for Kyousuke." Reluctantly the friends broke apart for the day. Sayaka so hopeful for the future, Madoka worrying over the new girl and Hitomi scared she would lose her best friend soon.

* * *

_What did you do?_

_I-I made a wish._

* * *

In the past Homura made plans, equipment and careful attempts at friendship. Now she made excuses. One more day and I'll do it. Just more time. Not here someone might see. Before long weeks past and she was running out of time.

Time. Once she had so much of it.

Time to talk with her friend, her only friend. Time to share their pains and joys. The time to fight for things. Time to struggle against the inevitable. Time to hurt. Time to watch her die. Time to see her friend, her only friend, be twisted into something horrible. Time to make her only friend hate her. Time to drive her away.

She knew that Kyubey, that little rat that caused all this, would be here. Under the mall. A witch would be by soon. Along with Mami, once someone she longed to be. Mami was as damned as Homura was. Waiting to trap her only friend. She told herself just a little more time. She marched over to where the alien hid. He never moved from that spot. With no small amount of joy she shot him. Just a little more time.

Kyubey watched the Puella Magi approach. Pure scientific curiosity his interest into her identity. He was about to greet her when she shot him. A spawn immediately. Plans for how to incorporate this development were already in place. She was faster. Homura snatched him by the neck and jammed her gun into his smiling face. Kyubey waited for the shot that never came.

"You want to contract Madoka and I don't. I've stopped you several times now." She stopped momentarily. A heavy blink, "Here's the deal. If you don't try to contract her for," another pause, "the next week I won't stop you after that." It took the alien a split second to decide.

"Agreed." Homura dropped him and walked off, determined to face Madoka's choice with the week she just bought. Kyubey had little interest in the forced promise. It would be easy to work around it and even following it would not impact his work any.

But it could prove a useful asset.

* * *

Madoka and Sayaka walked out of the mall. Their shopping was finished and ready to separate until tomorrow.

Then reality died.

The walls and floors melted, replaced by jigsaw of insanity and caution tape. Faceless men flew by in the distance. Like photo-scraps pasted along invisible planes. The two girls inched closer as the world faded away. They were not alone. Things, demented parodies of men, inched closer. Like cotton balls with mustaches glued to the front, they gibbered something unseen. The babbling horrors drew black scissor-like blades and cavorted at the frightened pair. Madoka and Sayaka backed into the other, the last vestiges of sanity begging them to flee.

The closest one exploded. The two jumped, the gunshot echoing in the nightmare. A flare of yellow light surrounded them. Another bang, one more nightmare exploded. Madoka looked about, hoping to find the familiar in the madness. The new girl from school, Homura, clad in black and purple drove in from their right. A gun in her hands, staccato bangs heralding her drive to the trapped pair. Grim hate burned into her eyes. Sayaka's attention was taken from the left. Another girl, dressed in a yellow, white and black blouse and skirt strode towards them. Muskets appearing from nowhere, firing and vanishing just as quickly.

Caught between the two, the horrors crumbled and broke. As they creatures ran the world shimmered and the place they knew, sanity itself, poked back in.

The witch fled, reality asserted itself. Homura and Mami faced each other. Once they'd been close. Not friends, but they once fought along side the other. Homura remembered her smiles, her laughter. The lunches the three had shared at her apartment. She remembered Mami's tear streaked face as she pointed her musket at Homura, crying that this was the only way. So much had happened, so many aeons of time had past. If they could ever not be enemies again Homura didn't know the words.

Homura did the only thing she could.

She left.


	2. Two

 

Disclaimer: Puella Magi Madoka Magica is owned by SHAFT and Aniplex. If desired by them this story will be removed. 

 

* * *

 

 

Madoka ran through the dream again. Twisted walls and broken skies familiar, in a way. She was at the battle sooner than her last dream. Perhaps she knew the way? Homura slammed into a wall, her bones shattered, but still she fought. A scream and she flew off, a future already decided, a fate cast in stone. A fight Homura had to win and already lost.  
  
Madoka watched helplessly. Her twin there as well. For all her dark half's powers there was nothing she could do either. The battle was won, victory at terrible cost. Hope at long last. The Madoka in black managed a step this time. Hesitant and painful; after a moment another was ventured. Her eyes watered up, but she continued anyway. The agony was unbearable. She whispered something, too low to catch.  
  
She woke up.  
  
A fleeting memory of something that did not happen. Her heart felt like racing, but she was calm. What was real? What was dream? What hadn't happened yet?  
  
 _Good morning!_  
  
It was a moment before she realized that the greeting didn't come from her family at all.  
  


* * *

 

  
Homura leaned over her table, her breathing ragged. It felt like her stomach had dissolved, acid devouring her insides. All the pain and suffering for nothing. An emptiness cored through her. Tears would not fall, not yet. She tired thinking of things to do. To keep herself occupied. Nothing came. Her whole being had been wound up around Madoka. Now, without that goal she was nothing. The life she had before meeting Madoka was a distant memory. Homura didn't know how to be that girl anymore.

 

No more twisting back to fix things again. No more one more time. Everything solved. Everything taken care of. Nothing to do but wait. Time was not kind to her. A million things undone, countless words never said. An infinity, unknown and unthinkable, before her.

 

It took effort to eat. More to keep it down. She looked at her soul gem, darker than it should be. She grasped one of her many grief seeds and purged it. She could stay in her room and not leave and still save Madoka. Her victory, her failure.  
  
 _You have to take us back with you!_

  
She ran into her bathroom to throw up.

 

 

* * *

Mami's hands shook. The excitement raced through her. _Friends! Two new friends! Two friends who could talk with her! No no no, have to be calm. I'm their senior. I need to be dignified. At least until they leave._

 

Mami carried out the little pastries. It was a quick job. She hoped they were good. Her nerves danced in her skin. She was trying to hard and she knew it. Months had gone by without a night like this. She'd saved two of her fellow students and both could make a wish! A lightness sprung in her heart. Someone to confide in, someone to teach and talk with. Madoka and Sayaka beamed as they looked around her apartment. This was like a movie to them. Everything about Mami's life was a fairytale they could join with a wish.

 

All that was left was to find the words.

 

* * *

Homura walked to the pair. Sayaka jumped up at her approach. Madoka rose slowly, waiting to see what Homura would do. Too many times this scene had repeated. Homura knew exactly what would be said. She knew what would be done. Nothing would change. Still she was here.

 

It was like she had trod this way so many times her feet were stuck in the path. Helpless to affect her own fate as she had Madoka's. She knew what she needed to say. Another chance to get it over with. Already she was making excuses. Mami was watching, there would be a fight. It would cause too many problems. She'd have to face herself. 

 

If Homura did nothing this meeting with her once-friends would be as pointless as it had always been. Shattered promises and broken hopes lacerated her insides. Her fingers grew numb. She knew that the terrible reality was forcing her away from what she should do. Some part of her knew that she would flee again. But still she was there.  
  
Sayaka glanced to the side quickly. She could see Mami watching from the tower across the street. It made her feel a little better. Homura walked slowly to the pair. She looked no better than the first day of school. Her eyes were bloodshot. If sleep was a part of her life out was not much of a friend. The weary girl tried to find the right words. Words she had been searching for longer than she could remember. She stopped just before them, hoping to make everything alright. She knew she couldn't. Sayaka jumped in first.

  
“Come to finish the job?” The would-be knight snarled at Homura. The pale girl took a moment to answer. Once she was, not friendly with the girl, but able to stand in the same room without being glared at. As much trouble as Sayaka had for Homura she could never bring herself to hate her. She'd seen the depths the girl could sink to. Depths that horrified even Kyouko.

 

“No, I have done what I needed to.” She blinked heavily. Homura was so tired. She hadn't slept in over a day. “Madoka won't contract. That's all that matters.” Sayaka glared at her. She had no idea what this new girl planned, but it couldn't be good. Was she going to hurt Madoka? Something worse? 

  
Madoka jumped between the two. She knew Sayaka enough to stop her from doing something she'd regret later. That Homura was a Puella Magi she didn't look like she was capable of defending herself. Sayaka grumbled but said nothing more. The sudden movement was enough to make Homura back away. Only her promise to get it over with held her there. Madoka made the attempt to reconcile the two. Maybe if Sayaka knew why Homura became a Puella Magi?  
  
“Homura, what did you wish for?” Inwardly the broken Puella Magi flinched. Before Homura could never answer her friend's question. Now, what did it matter? She held onto the chain-link fence. She felt so hollow. The words came without any force.

 

“I made a wish to save you.” The last ethereal barrier punctured, the words gently flowed without order and importance. “I watched you die and I wanted to save you and I didn't.” Her hands shook. Pain, loss, memories, too much for the young girl. She stopped. The wound too unhealed to pick at it further.

 

Sayaka glared at her. She was nuts as well. She carefully watched for any quick movement. Madoka didn't understand that some people were just bad. This Homura was one of them. Homura averted her eyes. More proof. Madoka pursed her lips and tired to think of something supportive to say. The poor girl had obviously been through a lot.

 

Homura leaned into the chains. The words were there, things she said before, behind a veil she could not pierce. Hopes that were pointless to let out. Weariness stripped away the muscles on her arms. She was so tired. Homura closed her eyes. And saw Madoka's. She jumped upright.

 

“You-you don't need to worry about anything. I'll take care of it.” And she fled.

 

Madoka watched the poor girl flee. in her heart. She was obviously unwell. The last glimpse of Homura's shattered eyes remained with the kind-hearted girl. Madoka's thoughts swirled around. Darkness and light. Things missing in the picture.

 

* * *

 

The three walked side by side, Sayaka awaiting her chance to fight, Mami to impress her new friends and Madoka afraid. Green hills and yellow houses passed by. Mami kept her soul gem out, checking where her wrist had run. A building ahead, under construction. Perfect, there would be no one around. Her prediction turned wrong. A woman leaned on the frame. She wore a plain businesswoman's suit. She seemed disoriented. Her eyes didn't track the three that approached. Mami quick-stepped to the disheveled woman.

  
"Good afternoon! Are feeling okay?" The woman blinked a couple of times before responding.   
  
“Oh I'm fine. I just got a little dizzy that's all.” She wobbled a bit before leaning on the building. “A nice little girl said to stay out of the place.” An empty smile crossed her face. She wasn't really looking at them. Mami returned her smile.

 

“That's a good idea, better stay outside.” A brief nod and the three girls walking inside. Mami strode forth, a serious look on her face.

  
"She had been Kissed. A witch can make people do things. I don't know why Homura would help." Mami summoned her dress and gun. That healing would have cost her much. They might catch up. The lonely girl knew too many selfish Puella Magi. She couldn't imagine why one would just save someone for no gain.  
  
Homura had been systematic. Every familiar was cut down. Burns and holes riddled the distorted walls. It was a terrifying reminder of the strange girl's power. Sayaka and Mami readied themselves, but there was no fight. The witch's minions were broken, too scared to challenge the new invaders. Too frightened to aid their master. Sayaka's eyes darted around, hoping to find some evil to defeat so she could impress Mami. She looked in vain. Madoka walked silently with them, wondering if this felt familiar, or if she imagined it.  
  
The center of the witch's maze unfolded before the three. The battle was over. Homura moved with terrible speed. The nightmare couldn't catch her. A bright lance of fire slammed into the monster with every missed pass. Madoka shivered. Something was wrong. The witch screamed in agony. She flinched, Mami told her that witches were pure evil; but there was a hope in her mind that things could be different.

 

Light. An explosion. The witch was no more. Heat blow over the three. Sayaka winched, a brief fear about the strange girl and what she could do. The would-be hero timidly looked back to the carnage. Mami stood unfazed. She stared at Homura. The other didn't seem to notice her audience. Homura walked to the remains of the horror. Pieces of madness fell down. The real world crushing out the witch's realm. Homura picked something up from the ground. With a brief look, throw it at the group.

 

It was too fast for Mami's eyes. It looked like a grenade. She jumped in front of her new friends. She would save them, even at the cost of her own life! It was too close. Her hands outstretched, the bomb meters away. How much time before it exploded, how far could she get it away? Impact. She felt the pin of a Grief Seed. It was a few moments before she calmed down enough. A final glance at Homura. She was already leaving, gunning down the last few familiars on her way.  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Notes:
> 
> A brief warning on spoilers. While this chapter doesn't really have any the next chapter will, so please, don't announce them in the reviews. Let people find them on their own.
> 
> Alos people who make virii should be shot.


	3. Three

The dream returned. Pain seemed closer, more real this time. Little sharp-edged wires of agony. Her opposite struggled to move and finally took a step. The agony clear, she put one foot forward each time.

 

A gasp, she kept moving. Tears welled in her eyes. Madoka tried to move. Nothing. She watched as her doppelganger suffered. Step by step foot by foot. She lunged making the last of the distance. A hand caught her shoulder. Her tortured opposite heaved for air. The agony so clear on her face. Desperately she whispered out: "There is always hope."

 

And the dream was over.

 

Madoka sat up. Her room seemed not real and the dream too believable. Pain in contrast to contentment. It was with her the whole day.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Mami sipped her tea and kept on the problem of Homura. Kyubey called her irregular. It fit her well. She showed up without warning and shattered Mami's world. She sat alone, Kyubey likely talking to Sayaka and Madoka. She hoped both contracted soon. A voice deep in her heart whispered that if Homura chose violence Mami could not stop her. It whispered she already had failed once before.

 

Mami shook her head. It wouldn't come to that. Something would happen first.

 

Wearily Mami pushed the voice into silence. She wouldn't fail this time. She would be strong. Even quieted the doubts lingered. Shadows beyond the edge of her eyes. She'd face them. Someway.

 

The door chime rang. Mami pushed aside her tea. She looked briefly at the ripples, gathered herself and let her new friends in.

 

 

* * *

  
  


Homura was not alone. Her hated rival, the little white rat-thing that betrayed her watched at a distance. It was going to try and rip answers out of her. She knew what the creature could never suspect. It would buy both herself and Madoka time.

 

She drifted the last meters home. It would be there. Her chest hurt. The door opened. Her home, one a refuge, once a place of strategy. Note a hollow shell. It was there.

 

_Hello!_

 

Homura glared but said nothing. She marched over to her desk and shifted peppers, making them look important. Kyubey was next to her, his eyes on her.

 

_How is your day!_

 

Homura kept ignoring him and turned away. Trying to find something to keep her occupied. Kyubey was already there.

 

_You've asked me to not contract Madoka. Why?_

 

"I have my reasons." Homura gave him.

 

_Would you like to share them?_

 

"No."

 

_Mami, Sayaka and Madoka would like to know your reasons._

 

Homura paused at the mention of Madoka's name. She steadied herself.

 

"I'll let her know, soon."

 

_It'd be very helpful if you opened up!_

 

"No."

 

_Madoka is concerned that she can't help. She-_

 

"I know what you're after and I won't let you do it. You can't stop me, now get out." With a burst of magic she threw him from her domain.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The three friends sat down in Mami's house. The discussion was centered solely on Homura. Mami gently poured black tea for her friends.

 

"I think she's nuts." Sayaka declared. Her lips snarled as she spat out the words. Madoka pursed her lips. She hated trying to calm down her friend when she got mad. Sayaka would settle down later. Maybe.

 

"I don't know what she's after. We will have to be careful around her." Mami responded, confident and in total control. Sayaka reigned herself in.

 

_It's possible that part of her contract allows her some knowledge of the future. Which is why she won't let Madoka contract._

 

"If that is so, why won't she tell us?"

 

_What she might desire is not necessarily in your best interest. She may be after something opposed to your goals._

 

Mami put down her tea cup and thought. Homura was this strange thing that flew against all a Puella Magi should be. An unknown that whispered unpleasant things.

 

"We'll have to find a way to deal with her. She might have some knowledge about the future. She might not. Homura isn't helping us and doesn't want to." Mami put her cup down and glanced into the dark tea, hoping for the right words. "We'll have to prepare for her to do something soon." Sayaka nodded, her face resolute and already determined to stop Homura. Madoka thought. There was a glimmer of an idea, a sentence she could say that would make everything better. It was out of her grasp. In the end, she agreed.

 

* * *

 

Madoka left Mami after an hour conversation. Sayaka left before, she'd almost forgotten about seeing Kyousuke. Dimly Madoka felt that Mami was isolated. Her parents long dead, her work being a Puella Magi sacrificed all her friendships. She wondered if Homura had done the same. Madoka reached the hosptal.

 

Sayaka walked out, happier than she'd been in a while. She turned to say something to Madoka and the smile left her face.

 

 

* * *

  
  


Homura slumped over her counter, rolling the grief seed in her hands. She'd stared at it for hours. Nothing would change it's existence. No matter how hard she wished it too. Once she pondered who each girl had been when she held their grief seed. This time she knew. And nothing would change that. She knew it was time. She had to do this now. Or...

 

Nothing she had ever done mattered.

 

Madoka's sacrifice meant nothing.

 

It would all be meaningless.

 

Wearily she got up. A thought and her shield manifested. Homura emptied out all of the grief seeds she'd collected.

 

No more excuses.

 

No more time.

 

The one she held, the one that hurt the most was placed in her storage. She looked away for the eyes that weren't looking at her and went to speak with her once-friends.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Mami jogged as Madoka told her of the witch at the hospital. Sayaka had gone ahead to scout. Mami's only spark of light with that news was that the strong-headed girl had taken Kyubey with her. That voice came back and whispered that if the witch was fast enough it wouldn't matter.

 

Her lungs burned and not with exhaustion. Her limbs cold. She should have made Sayaka contact before now. She should have forced the point. It could be too late. She might be dead and it was her fault.

 

The clawing demons wouldn't go away. They pinched her eyes and bit her heart. Her fault, her fault, her fault. The hospital was ahead, a place just before the grave and it might be too late for that. Mami strode through with her friend just behind.

 

Kyubey's voice made the claws in her chest relax but not let go.

 

_Hello Mami. We haven't found the witch yet but the familiars seem to be ignoring us._

 

A sigh. _Thank you Kyubey, we will be along quickly._

 

"They are safe. We must be quick." She turned and smiled, hoping that Madoka believed it. The kind, soft girl returned Mami's smile and she followed the Puella Magi.

 

Madoka glanced around. She'd been in a witch's barrier only three times before. The only thing they had in common was nothing. This was a maze of desserts and medicine. Briefly Madoka wondered what would make the witch’s barrier like this and not something else. Mami stopped and spun around. Madoka quietly turned around.

 

Homura stood there mute. She looked worse than she had the last time. Her skin was gray and drawn. Her eyes were bloodshot. It didn’t look like she’d slept or eaten in a few days. It was a moment before Homura managed to speak.

 

“This witch is… different.” Madoka thought Homura was going to pitch over. “We have to work… together.” She blinked and forced her eyes open wide.

 

Mami warily glared at Homura. She had no idea what the girl planned. Nor any idea of her ability. Madoka jumped between the two.

 

"Maybe she could along to help." She smiled. "She's just tired and needs a friend." Mami pitched her voice low, hoping that Homura couldn't hear.

 

"She isn't helping us. She won't explain anything." Her eyes flashed to the pale girl. "We can't trust her."

 

"I think she's scared of us." Mami never took her eyes off Homura. She seemed to be breathing shallowly. Her face had drifted downwards, starting almost at her feet. She hadn't said anything since her announcement. “She's probably not used to being around people. We should be her friends.”

 

"Why should we?"

 

"Because it's the right thing," Madoka said.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Mami stomped ahead, angry that she's been talked into allowing Homura along. Homura for her part hasn't said anything. She looked worse. Her face continued to gray and she retreated into herself. What little light was left to her eyes faded. Madoka asked and called her name. The thin Puella Magi didn't even acknowledge her existence.

 

Mami reached the center of the labyrinth and tried to be civil with Sayaka. The mocking voices in her head followed her the whole way. Madoka and Homura walked in behind. Sayaka didn't make an attempt to not glare at the broken Puella Magi.

 

Mami observed the future battlefield. A garden of doughnut, sweets and sugar. She felt the witch coalescing into shape. She couldn't depend on Homura. There was no one but herself. The regal girl summoned her power.

 

The chorus of a thousand angels, the brilliant refracted light of countless prisms, beauty and harmony filled her. There was no doubt, no mocking, no defeat now. Everything was perfect. These feelings washed over her. Her end of the contract. A moment of peace before she felled this terrible creature. Mami sensed Homura draw her own power. She was no where near as strong as Mami.

 

Mami launched herself. She would kill this witch and end all doubt. The desserts adorning the center of the maze were soft but didn't slow her. Her muskets appeared in a thought. The first salvo punctured the witch, a small doll-like creature, as it landed on a chair. Ribbons lunged for the monster and threw it high. Mami danced away, pelting it with shots. Pieces of cloth ripped from it's body. She wouldn't give out time to react. A surge.

 

"Tiro Finale!"

 

The witch was lanced through it's center. Determined to crush out with force, Mami summoned more weapons. A shift. Ribbons in front.

 

It was so fast.

 

It was almost in her face before she realized it. Her ribbons would not bind it in time. Her guns deflected off the sides of that terrible maw.

 

_No no no no n no no no no no no no no no no no no no not like this not like this no no no please no._

 

Something hit her. Blue, doughnut, blue, candy, something smacked into her face. She popped up, many meters from the witch. Homura stood there. A brilliant violet shield between her and death. She was pushed back. The shields didn't break. Mami fired at it. There was no thought. The black shape of the worm rippled. It didn't notice her.

 

Homura summoned the last of her strength. The grief seed in hand. She felt the witch pull out the darkness and take it for herself. It hurt so much. This was Her choice. She had to do this. Tension broke thoughout her arms. A pulse from the seed. The witch within was gathering her strength, ready to manifest. The eyes of Madoka appeared to her. Madoka believed in her no matter what. And for that Homura watched her die over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.

 

Time stopped.

 

She screamed.

 

Homura threw the grief seed as hard as she could.

 

Pain.

 

Suffering.

 

Agony.

 

The witch's head exploded.

 

With all her pain Homura attacked the doll witch.

 

* * *

 

 

Mami watched in horror as Homura went insane. Inhuman screams, terrible speed and nightmarish attacks. Homura ripped the witch apart. Blood and flesh flew through the air. The witch snapped away

 

And lunged for Madoka and Sayaka.

 

Mami desperately tried to put herself between her charges and the witch. The serenity long broken. She shouldn't have taken them here. They couldn't defend themselves. Even as she moved it was too late. The witch was so much faster.

 

Homura was there first. A bright purple shield splintered the creatures face. The screaming banshee readied another assault. The world erupted before she could.

 

* * *

 

Madoka pitched forward. Agony in every movement. There was screaming but it wasn't aimed at her. It made her worry. The pain scrambled her vision. White-hot pokers in her back. She forced it away. She needed to see more than power. Visions of her friends falling one by one. She shook her head. _It won’t happen_. She forced her despair away. The colors slowly wound around themselves until an image crystallized.

 

Desserts.

 

Mami.

 

_No._

 

The world ripped apart. Madoka slammed down on her panic. Her accidental display of power threw everyone. Madoka reached out, she didn't know how, and caught each one. Her breathe came in vast gulps. The darkness threaten to overwhelm her again. She took a moment to calm down. It was a maze to do half of what she wanted. She would have to learn. There would be no-one to help her.

 

Madoka snapped forward. She grunted. Needles in her legs. She wouldn't let in happen again. Her back on fire. She summoned her bow, a thing made of terror and shame, and took another step. A black swirl lunged at tiny colorful dots. Madoka took a snap shot. It missed, and pulled the snake-like witch along. A hurricane followed. The twisted landscape was sundered. _Less, less_ , she thought. Madoka thought she heard something.

 

She knocked another arrow. She choked a scream. She twisted her new powers about trying to reach the witch. It felt like her hand was bleeding.

 

_Stop!_

 

She felt an answer. Like something said in another room. Madoka kept pushing. She had to reach her.

 

_Stop it! Stop it right now_!

 

A distant voice.

 

_Cheese cheese do you have any cheese?_

 

_I can get you all the cheese you want but you have to stop right now!_ Agony raced through her brain. This hurt so much. She crushed a selfish thought. She accepted this when she made her wish. Her life would be pain now.

 

The witch surged back. Madoka loosed her shot. The force tore out and spun the witch backward. She could feel her friends being pushed back. A quick check, not hurt.

 

_I could have saved her._

 

_Saved who?_ Knock.

 

_Mom. Mom. I'm sorry._ Madoka desperately tried to keep up with the fallen puella magi's thoughts Madoka tried to comfort her.

 

_It's going to be okay now, we're all your friends we want to help you._

 

_I killed her. I KILLED HER!_

 

She came back. Afraid of hurting her friends or the witch, Madoka cut down on the power of her arrows and fired. It was still too powerful. But all her friends were not thrown. The arrow lanced through the witch and shredded her body.

 

The voice faded instantly. A last plea for cheese echoed in the barrier. It wasn't the return Madoka had wanted. But she was here now, she could save her friends. Even the puella magi who'd fallen. She just had to get her friends to understand.

 

She turned to Mami. Shock, fright and fear burned into her friend's eyes.

 

Madoka smiled through the pain.

 

"Hi Mami."

 

Mami did exactly what Madoka thought she would do. Mami pulled out a gun and shot her with it.

  
  
  
  


 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Next Chapter: A Lack of Understanding


End file.
